


Unwilling Exile

by Milieva



Series: From Guru to House-Husband [1]
Category: Magic Knight Rayearth
Genre: Clef is all grown-up, F/M, Marriage of Convenience, Political Shenanigans, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23500615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milieva/pseuds/Milieva
Summary: When the Council of Cephiro are at odds with Clef over his role as Guru and he refuses to do as they want, Umi comes up with an unorthodox suggestion for his future.
Relationships: Clef/Ryuuzaki Umi
Series: From Guru to House-Husband [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690990
Comments: 23
Kudos: 16





	Unwilling Exile

**Author's Note:**

> As many of my long time readers know, I love to play with the fanon idea of the rules of the Pillar also being laid upon the Guru and Soru. It's not exactly canon, but it's so much fun.
> 
> This is the first in a series of short fics that are inspired by a number of things mentioned in Sanctuary that did not or will likely not happen.

Clef understood why the Council was forcing a renewal of vows. There was pressure to strengthen people's faith in the new Cephiro, to help with the stability issues they were having, and they believed the guild heads reaffirming their vows would be a way towards that. 

He was more than willing to reaffirm his faith in Cephiro, but he knew it was a very bad idea to renew the covenant as it had been in the old system.

The vows he took when he first became Guru had constricted the holder's rights to a life beyond their work. Hikaru had rewritten his post along with the rest of Cephiro and the older form was not the sort of thing he wanted to reinstate.

Clef had been outspoken about his disagreement from the beginning, but that didn't stop the push. Everyone was more worried about keeping the stability of the new Cephiro, and despite a few dissenters, the vote still passed. And once it passed, there was more pressure put on Clef to renew his vows, but he stood firm in his refusal. Even though he couldn't remain Guru without accepting his vows.

He also refused to stand down and give up his position to someone willing to take the oath as it currently stood. No matter the consequences - which were likely to be his having to leave Cephiro entirely.

The whole situation was infuriating.

Though Clef thought he'd resigned himself to his inevitable exile, he couldn't keep the growl of irritation out of his voice when he told the knights. He had wanted to break his leaving to them gently, but that didn't go as planned. Umi dragged him down to dinner as she usually did on her visits and when she asked him what was wrong, the whole story came tumbling out.

"That seems harsh," Hikaru said, frowning.

Fuu set her fork down. "But would it not simply be a formality, swearing your oath again."

"That oath isn't just words. It's tied to my link to Cephiro. Hikaru changed my link when she dissolved the pillar system, and I refuse to put things back how they were. It's not fair to me, or anyone else who has this position after me."

"How long have they been pushing for this idiocy?" Umi demanded.

"The past few seasons, at least." Clef couldn't remember when the first murmurs had started.

"You've known about this for several seasons and you only tell us about it _now?_ " Umi's voice cracked as she shrieked.

"I honestly didn't think it would go through. I thought they'd see the mistake they were making before it was too late." With a resigned shrug, Clef sighed. "Now it's just an agonising rush to get everything sorted before the next Council meeting. I'm not doing anything wrong until I cast a vote as Guru - but abstaining counts as casting a vote, so it can't be avoided."

"What are you going to do?" Hikaru asked.

"There's a place for me on Autozam," Clef said. "I can always help with the atmosphere programme for now."

"Autozam!" Umi said. "But that's so far away, when will we ever get to see you?"

"It's only for a few decades at most. Exile is supposed to break my connection to Cephiro as Guru, so I have to either wait out the Council's stupidity, or eventually Cephiro will cease to recognise me as Guru." Clef stabbed at his vegetables. He knew he should eat, but he'd felt nothing but ill for the week and a half since the vote. "My guild would then be forced to choose a new Guru, and that person would be required to swear away the freedom to their own heart."

"Does it matter where you go, so long as it's away from Cephiro?" Umi asked in a voice so quiet it caught Clef's complete attention.

"Why?"

"What if you came to Tokyo?" Umi suggested.

Clef blinked at her in surprise. He'd not considered going to the other world the girls were from, he'd not realised that could even be an option. That would definitely be a nicer option than working in Autozam.

"We've got plenty of space," Umi continued. "And my parents like you, so I'm sure you'd be welcome to stay as long as you want."

Fuu furrowed her eyebrow. "Master Clef would need a proper visa to stay in Japan for any length of time. How do you plan to obtain one when he does not even have any paperwork?"

Umi shrugged. "I'm sure I can get my parents to sort something. Papa must have some government contacts."

"I do not believe forging documents is within the remit of a politician," Fuu countered.

Paperwork. Everything always came down to paperwork, didn't it? Clef shook his head. "I certainly wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble by staying."

"No. No, it'll be fine," Umi said, waving him off. "I'm sure it will."

"Clef can't even read Japanese," Hikaru said. "So he can't get a job or study at a university. What is he supposed to do to get a visa?"

Umi pinched her lips together and crossed her arms on the table. "Clef can marry me," she declared.

Clef stared at her in surprise.

"But we're still in high school!" Hikaru said. 

"I'll be eighteen in a couple of months," Umi countered. She turned back to Clef. "What do you think? We can get married - which will give you a legitimate reason for that paperwork - and you can stay with me in Tokyo until those idiots learn their lesson and sort this mess out."

The look on Umi's face told him she was serious. He sat there for a long moment considering the option she was giving him.

"Only if your parents agree," he said finally. He certainly didn't want to impose, not when he didn't know how long he was bound to be staying.

"So, that's a yes then?" Umi asked.

Clef nodded. "If your parents agree, I'll come with you."

"I'm sure they will!" Umi leapt to her feet. "But don't you dare think about going anywhere else until I get back," she ordered before hurrying out of the dining hall.

Fuu and Hikaru exchanged looks of confusion, and Clef wasn't any more certain about what just happened than they were.

*

Flailing out of the dining hall, Umi sprinted up to her room only long enough to grab her handbag before making the leap back to Tokyo.

She wouldn't let Clef go to Autozam. They'd only managed to visit Autozam once in the past few years, and with Umi seriously considering universities in Kyoto, she knew Clef moving so far would mean she'd barely get to see him - maybe once every summer. And that was completely unacceptable.

Her parents were surprised when she came tumbling through the sitting-room door mere hours after she'd left.

"Umi, what's wrong?" Mama asked, leaping to her feet.

"I need to marry Clef!" Umi breathlessly declared.

"What, your Guru Clef?" Papa asked, "Isn't that man seven hundred years old?"

"Seven hundred and fifty," Umi corrected automatically before wailing, "If I don't marry him, he's going to move to Autozam and I'll never get to see him again!"

Mama waved Umi further into the room. "Why don't you sit down and start from the beginning."

Umi dropped into the nearest armchair and began to explain everything Clef had told them at dinner about his likely exile, then launched into an explanation of her plan to bring Clef to Tokyo so she could keep him, speaking too fast for her parents to ask questions.

*

Clef walked into his rooms through a haze of confusion. He'd been settled on going to Autozam. Lantis had come to him with Eagle's offer barely a day after the vote had passed, and as Clef hadn't thought he would have any real alternatives, he'd accepted.

Marrying Umi certainly wasn't an alternative he'd have ever expected.

His knowledge of what marriage meant came from the many long talks he'd had with Umi while she was struggling to choose between her desire to move to Cephiro to learn magic and her feeling of obligation to be 'a good daughter' for her parents. She'd explained in detail that as the last Ryuuzaki, there was an expectation that she should not only marry to bring a partner into the family, but have a child to carry on the family name.

Where did marrying him fit into any of this?

Especially when Umi was finally settled on moving to Cephiro after finishing university.

Clef rubbed his hands over his face and stared about his bare room. He'd left nothing but the modest furnishings that were standard in a guest room of this size. It no longer felt like the home he'd spent the past several years turning it into. He'd even turned his study back into a bedroom now that he barely had any work left to be doing.

With little more than two days before the next Council meeting that would almost certainly force him into exile, all of his books and belongings were now safely packed away, ready to take with him to Autozam.

He sat down at the table with a cup of tea and rolled the storage stone over in his hand. It contained everything he'd managed to keep over the past few centuries, through the near-collapse of Cephiro, but none of it would be able to go with him if he went to Tokyo with Umi. Going with her would literally be leaving everything he'd ever had behind.

But maybe it was time to try a fresh start.

Because the alternative would mean he'd barely see Umi again, and the thought of that made his chest ache almost as much as the thought of leaving Cephiro

*

Umi's parents insisted she stay the night and head back to Cephiro the next day as it was getting rather late by the time they'd talked everything through. And despite the fact they had agreed to let her bring Clef home, Umi couldn't get herself to settle down enough to sleep.

Rationally, she knew that Clef wouldn't leave for Autozam until the Council had pronounced him dead - or whatever it was he'd said they'd decree when he next voted in Council without having reaffirmed his oath - but that didn't stop her from fretting herself into a horrible nightmare when she did finally fall asleep.

Not only did the dream-Clef leave without a word, he went even farther than Autozam at the Council's insistence, and Umi had absolutely no way she could contact him.

Umi woke in an anxious rush a little after five.

She glared at the time on her phone screen before flopping back onto her pillow. She stared up at the ceiling for a long while, unable to get herself to go back to sleep.

After a half-hour which felt like ages, Umi gave up and went downstairs to make herself a cup of tea. It was nights like this, when she had so many thoughts and worries in her head, that she'd go see if Clef was around so she could talk it through with him. Well, if she was in Cephiro, and now would probably be a bad time as he would usually be asleep - even if he did keep terrible hours.

At the very least, this whole exile thing would give him a break from his extensive workload. Maybe he would actually get enough sleep for a while.

Umi was just finishing her cup of tea when Papa came into the kitchen.

"Morning," Umi greeted him.

"You're up early," Papa said. "Are you okay?"

"How can the Council do this to Clef after all he's done for Cephiro?" Umi said, her voice quivering with anger. "It's so stupid!"

"No one ever said politicians were intelligent," Papa said with a gentle smile. "You've done all you can do to help."

"Maybe," Umi kicked at the floor. "I just want to fix it for him."

"I know." Papa gave her a soft pat on the shoulder. "Let's have another cup of tea and I'll see what clothes I can find for Clef to borrow for the trip over."

*

Armed with a strong pot of tea, Clef dropped into his chair to face his final tasks.

With exile looming before him, he was focusing his energy on helping his guild change the protocols to cover his post, because they were as outdated as his oath and no one wanted to activate them without a little tweaking.

Now that almost of his work was now delegated to his administrators, Clef's desk was the emptiest it had been in years. The blank surface revealed all the scratches and marks that were normally buried beneath reports and notes. He was staring at a particularly dark ink stain when Umi's voice broke through his thoughts.

"That's so weird!" Umi stood staring at his desk with disbelieving eyes. "I don't think I've ever seen the top of it."

"Well, it's not like they can give me any more work if I'm not going to be here next week," Clef said.

Umi flopped into her usual chair with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

Clef's chest tightened as he looked across at Umi, sitting where she always sat. He was almost afraid of the answer, but he had to know. "What did your parents say?"

"You're more than welcome to stay with us. Mama said we'd sort out whatever we needed to." A weak smile played across Umi's lips. "I brought you some clothes, so we don't have a repeat of Ferio's trip over."

Despite his foul mood, the reminder of Ferio's first trip to Tokyo made Clef laugh. The last thing he wanted when moving to a new land was to be naked when he arrived. "Thank you. I would rather not have the same experience."

Umi stayed with him the rest of the day, only leaving him to fetch lunch.

Clef hadn't realised how much a fixture Umi was in his office until he noticed that nearly everyone he met with that day greeted Umi not by title, but by name. And not a single one of them cared that Umi sat through the meeting with them, because it was completely normal.

When the dinner bell ran, Umi bounced to her feet, took Clef's hand, and pulled him out of his chair.

"I have to finish this," Clef argued weakly.

"No, you need a break," Umi insisted, tugging him forcefully until he actually followed her.

While work had been depressing, dinner felt like a wake, especially when it seemed all of their friends had made it to dinner at the same time for once. Or maybe it was more like the night before an execution. The conversation was stilted and unnatural as everyone tried to talk about anything and everything except the heavy dark cloud hanging above him.

Clef picked up the jug of wine and poured some into his glass. Perhaps pretending he was celebrating a change - that fresh start - would be enough to lift his mood a little; he didn't often have alcohol, but he was unlikely to need to perform any major spells in the half-day remaining. So why not have a drink for once. 

He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, and Umi reached over and put a hand over his.

The stuttering conversation juddered even more at his choice of drink, and Clef decided he might as well make an announcement of his change of plans. "I should let you know that I have chosen to take Umi up on her offer to go home with her to Tokyo after tomorrow's meeting," he said before taking another drink of his wine.

"Tokyo!" Ferio gasped. "What happened to Autozam?"

"I'd like to know more about the world the knights come from. I'll take this as an opportunity to do so," Clef said.

Umi gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and Clef gave her a hopeful smile as he laced his fingers with hers.

Everyone at the table stared at them in confusion, not saying anything until Ferio raised his glass in a toast. "To bright new beginnings."

The rest of the well wishes that followed were heartfelt if full of surprise, and Clef hoped he was making the right decision.

*

From the moment she'd seen Clef looking grey and miserable yesterday, Umi could hardly bring herself to leave him. Only the trip to ask her parents' blessing to keep him managed to pull her from his side.

And when Clef turned to go back to his office to continue working after dinner, Umi caught his hand, worried that he was going to make himself ill if he didn't rest. "You've done enough for today," she told him.

"I need to finish," Clef pleaded. "I've almost signed everything off."

"Your guild can take care of it," Umi argued.

"I don't want to leave them with any loose ends," Clef countered. The pain in his eyes was heartbreaking.

Umi swallowed back her disagreement and looked at her watch. "You can have two hours, and then I'm making you go to bed."

"Cephiran or Earth hours?" Clef teased with forced levity.

Umi narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm serious, Clef. You look like you haven't slept all week."

Rather than dispute that, Clef looked over her shoulder and tilted his head. "I think your friends want your attention."

Hikaru and Fuu were standing at the entrance to the central spiral looking intently at them. Umi sighed and turned back to Clef. "Two hours, and then I am dragging you up to bed myself," she told him before going to see what her friends wanted.

"You never specified what hours we were counting in," Clef called after her.

Umi called back, "You'll just have to guess."

Once she was in their reach, Hikaru and Fuu immediately ushered Umi back up to their shared room, firmly shutting the door behind them before Hikaru asked, "How long have you and Clef been together?"

"What are you talking about?" Umi blinked at her in surprise. "We're not together."

"That is certainly not what it sounded like at dinner when everyone was toasting to your relationship," Fuu said.

Umi sat down on the nearest bed. She replayed the conversation in her head then shook her head. "No. They toasted to 'new beginnings' - to Clef moving to Tokyo."

"To live with you," Hikaru added, sitting down beside her.

Fuu sat down on her other side. "Surely you know that is the blessing for a Cephiran couple moving in together."

"I'm pretty sure everyone would be giving you moving gifts if they could," Hikaru said. She paused thoughtfully. "I'm sure I can probably work out some way to do that."

"That's not - We're not _together_ ," Umi argued, leaping back to her feet.

"But you _are_ still planning to marry Master Clef, are you not?" Fuu asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"For legal reasons. It was the only way I could keep him from leaving!" Umi flailed her hands as she paced across the floor. "If I were seeing him, do you think I'd have kept it a secret?"

Hikaru shrugged, her lips twitching. "You get distracted easily. It might have slipped your mind."

Irritated that they'd pulled her away from Clef for a bunch of silly questions, Umi stomped across the room to grab the overnight bag she'd abandoned yesterday and went for the door.

"Where are you going?" Fuu asked.

"Someone needs to make sure Clef gets some rest tonight," Umi said and strode out of the room.

She was halfway down the spiral when she realised what that sounded like. Her face heated even worse when her next thought was that sex _would_ probably be a good way to distract Clef from all the fretting, but not only did she have no idea how to do that, it would probably make bringing him to Tokyo awkward. He was going to be stuck with her for a while, after all.

When she walked into Clef's office, he looked up and said, "It's not been a single hour in either reckoning."

"I know." Umi dropped her bag on the floor and sat down. "I just thought you could probably use some company."

"Thank you," Clef said.

The smile he gave her was so sad that Umi wanted nothing more than to make her way around his desk to hug him, but she forced herself to stay put.

*

With the last paper signed and sent, Clef looked across the now empty surface of his desk to find Umi had fallen asleep in her chair. No wonder she hadn't complained when it had taken more than two hours for him to finish. He got up and gathered Umi's collection of bags before giving her shoulder a gentle shake.

"Umi, you need to get up."

Grumbling loudly, Umi rubbed her eyes and blinked up at him. "What time is it?"

"Late," Clef answered. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the actual answer. "Come on. I'll walk you to your room."

Umi shook her head. "I'm staying with you."

"I'm finished," Clef told her. "I'm going up to my rooms for the night."

"And I'm coming with you," Umi told him.

Clef couldn't bring himself to argue. He'd rather not be alone tonight, so he was more than willing to lead her up to his rooms.

It wasn't until his hand was on the door that Clef had the sudden realisation that he'd never once brought Umi up here. Almost all of his other friends had been in his private quarters but never Umi. Their interactions had been limited to public spaces. Clef didn't let himself linger on thoughts of why that was, and instead opened the door to let Umi in.

Umi made herself at home almost immediately. She slipped off her shoes three steps into the room and headed straight for the kettle, offering Clef tea before he'd even managed to shut the door behind him.

"You're tired. You should sleep," Clef said.

"I can sleep tomorrow," Umi argued, opening cupboards and pulling out cups.

When they curled up together on the settee with their tea, Clef tried not to think too hard about how Umi's proximity made his chest warmer and everything else seem less immediate. He passed it off as gratitude for not being left alone with his thoughts.

Umi told him about her week - which had been far more pleasant than his - filling the aching silence with the soft sound of her voice as she sleepily curled closer and closer into his side.

When, well past midnight, there came a knock at the door, Clef had to extract himself from Umi's drowsy embrace to get up and answer it.

"Figured you wouldn't be asleep," Ferio greeted him. "I thought you might like some company."

"The more the merrier, I suppose." Clef opened the door wide enough to let Ferio in.

Umi waved. "Hi, Ferio," she said before stifling a yawn.

"Oh! You have company. I mean, of course you do," Ferio stammered, face flushing. "Sorry to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting anything more than a midnight vigil," Clef told him, rolling his eyes. Did Ferio really think he'd flaunt his refusal so blatantly the night before his impending exile? Waving a hand at the bottle in Ferio's hand, he asked, "What did you bring?"

"It was supposed to be a farewell gift - a taste of home - but since you're now moving to Tokyo-" Ferio sighed. He looked at the bottle and then across at Umi again before pushing the bottle into Clef's hand. "I'll leave you two alone."

"No. Come in," Umi insisted, getting up. "I'll make more tea."

Pulling the reluctant Ferio into the room by his sleeve, Clef shut the door and walked over to help Umi.

*

Umi woke up on Clef's settee with a blanket draped over her. The last thing she could remember was Ferio opening the bottle of wine and pouring glasses for himself and Clef while Umi just curled around her half-empty mug of tea and leaned into Clef's shoulder.

She blinked a few times and sat up to find bright morning sunlight streaming in the window. Clef was nowhere to be seen. Had he already left for Council?

Scrambling off the sofa, Umi rushed to the nearest door, almost slamming into Clef when he walked out of it.

"I thought you'd left," she said.

"I wouldn't have left without letting you know." Clef ran a hand through his hair only to have it fall back into his face - his coronet held loosely in his other hand as if he were reluctant to put it on. "But I should probably head down soon."

"Give me a chance to change and we can get some breakfast first."

"I'm not very hungry."

Umi bit her lip and nodded. That was understandable. The twisting knots of anxiety in her stomach had her feeling more ill than hungry, but she knew she would need the energy later. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.

"Can you be waiting for me when the meeting's over?" Clef asked, his voice wavering.

"Of course," Umi promised.

"Thank you." He took a breath. "You get changed and I'll walk you down to the dining hall."

Umi dashed into the bathroom to quickly change into fresh clothes. She then shoved her old clothes and her handbag into her overnight bag and slung it over her shoulder as she walked out. "Ready?" she asked, reaching out to him.

Disappearing something from the table into his ring, Clef put his coronet firmly on his head before taking her hand.

*

Clef walking Umi to the dining hall quickly turned into Umi walking him to the Council Chamber. Clef let his hold on Umi's hand linger when they reached the door. How he wished he didn't have to let go, but she couldn't come with him, not least because she wasn't allowed in the member's seats.

As they parted ways, Umi gave his hand one final reassuring squeeze. "You can do this," she said.

Clef nodded, but part of him wanted to just declare himself ill and go back to bed, but putting this off by another fortnight wouldn't do anything except extend the agonising wait, because two more weeks wouldn't be enough time to persuade the Council they had made a mistake, when he'd already spent over half a year trying to convince them not to do it in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, Clef walked into the Council chamber. He ignored the looks he was getting as he made his way to his usual seat. Lantis slid in beside him a moment later, passing over a fresh mug of tea. Clef murmured a quiet "Thanks" as he cradled the cup in his hands, drawing out some of the heat so he could sip it while the last stragglers came filing in.

When Teru Verna called them to order, Clef thought she might just call an arbitrary vote to get things over and done with before they got on with the rest of the day's business, but she opened the session the same as always.

"Right, everyone," Verna said. "The first item on the agenda is the actions from the last meeting. Kairu Lantis, do you have an update for us on the matter of postings to the outlying hamlets?"

Lantis patted Clef on the shoulder as he stood and began talking about staff deployment and retention, and Clef tried to pay attention but he was struggling to focus on anything more than finishing his tea.

After an update from the Priests' Guild came the riveting discussion of whether there should be public conveniences in the Castle gardens. The topic had been at the bottom of the meeting agenda for the past six meetings which won it a place at the top this time - a measure to keep the less important things from never getting heard.

Toilets were important for making a space accessible and the Council generally agreed on that. The main source of debate came from where they should be located. There were at least five separate proposals of entirely different locations, and several people argued that the matter should be sent back to the Gardeners until there was one final proposal to vote on.

In the meantime, the Gardeners had opened their facilities to the public, but that was causing contention with the Kitchen and the Guard, as neither wanted the public to have general access to the areas they used. And this had all led to the head cook and the head gardener facing off in a petty battle of will that culminated in today's strongly-worded debate on the Council floor.

"Why are we still wasting time on this?" Gorham called from the back of the room. "We should just put it to a vote and move on!"

Clef's head snapped up, and several people turned to stare at him. Was this really what was going to exile him? Voting on a provision for public toilets? He let out a hollow laugh. No one ever said exile was supposed to be dignified.

"We don't need to vote on this measure at this time," Verna said, glaring at Gorham.

"No, no. Let's vote," Clef said. "I'll even second the motion."

At least it wasn't something urgent enough he'd be left feeling guilty for making today's decision void by voting on it.

And Umi would laugh when he told her.

Verna nodded gravely and reminded them of the voting procedures before moving forward. When she called 'option one', her voice echoed in the heavy hush that had fallen over the chamber.

A few hands went up, but all eyes were on Clef - no one paying attention to the count.

Clef raised his hand for the third option.

The moment he did, Toreno gave a sharp clap, amplified by magic the sound was almost painful. And by the same token, his voice felt like it vibrated to the very foundations of the room when he spoke. "The individual known as Clef has attempted to use the power invested in him as Guru without a valid oath before this Council to validate his right to do so. This act makes him unfit to bear his title. Clef, will you take those vows this moment before the vote you cast is enacted, or will you set aside the role of Guru and step down willingly, to let another take your place?"

"I most certainly will not make that vow, and I absolutely will not step aside and you force them on another so long as I can stop you," Clef said, not bothering to stand. "These vows are wrong, and since deciding upon new vows suited to this new Cephiro before binding us with them is apparently not as worthy of this Council's time as debating toilets, I refuse to be a part of this any longer."

Clef hadn't expected to see Torneo flinch at his words - he was one of the people who had pushed for renewal first and refining later.

But the next part in this ridiculous pageant went to Verna, as the sitting Judge on the Council. "If you do not step aside and relinquish the post, you must be exiled at a distance great enough Cephiro will let you go as one who is dead to her, and you must remain exiled for as many years as it takes."

"I know. But you should know this," he said, with a sharp look around. "This Council may do what it will, but it shall be Cephiro that makes the final decision."

"Then I declare you, Clef, to be stripped of the rank of Guru, and sentenced to exile from this land until such a time as your connection is broken or this Council rescinds this order. You may have a day to set your things in order and leave; but you must relinquish the symbols of your rank before leaving this room."

"Very well," Clef said as he stood and took the coronet from his head and let it drop to the table in front of him. His mantle followed. He disappeared his robes into his ring before sombrely passing it to Lantis for safekeeping, leaving him in the clothing Umi had brought for him. "I will be gone from Cephiro within the hour."

Finally, he summoned his staff and dropped it to the floor with a terrible clatter.

"I hope you will use this time to fix the vows that are no longer fit for the new Cephiro," were his final words to the room before he walked out, standing as tall as he could on trembling legs.

As promised, Umi stood waiting for him in the corridor. The one bright spark in an otherwise miserable day. He'd barely made it across the floor to her when she threw her arms about him and pulled him into a tight embrace. She held him until the ground felt steady under his feet and he could almost breathe again.

When she pulled away, Umi took his hand, and she didn't let go until they arrived at his new home.


End file.
